The trial judge in this opinion found no misconduct or illegal conduct in signature verification of absentee ballots. Kari Lake loses her election contest against Katie Hobbs for Arizona’s gubernatorial race on her final remaining issues.
She can appeal, but an appeal is unlikely to succeed given these factual findings.
Initially I predicted a summer hearing for this important and delayed case under the California Voting Rights Act. Then it appeared my prediction was wrong when the June oral argument calendar came out without the Santa Monica case.
Now, in a potentially unprecedented move, the CA Supreme Court has set a second oral argument calendar for June 27, with the Santa Monica case on it. It will be an all-remote hearing.
Stay tuned!
Sightline Institute conducted this analysis of Alaska’s voting system. Key findings:
- In 2022, Alaska held its first elections with open primaries and ranked choice voting.
- Sightline analyzed the diversity of Alaska legislative classes from 2008 to 2022 in four areas: political party, age, gender, and race.
- Independent candidates clearly benefitted the most from rules that put them on a level playing field with major party candidates, winning more representation than ever before.
- Other groups—younger candidates, women candidates, and candidates of color—either gained seats or held onto previous gains, most likely due to demographic change and other factors.
- Overall, the system didn’t change the fact that Republicans still hold the most political sway in Juneau.
A story in Politico by Katherine Tully-McManus and Nicholas Wu on Dianne Feinstein. A snippet:
Dianne Feinstein has taken on a noticeably lighter schedule since she came back from California. She appears in the Senate only at committee hearings or on the floor when her vote is essential.
Send your tips and questions to Guy! I’m grateful for the opportunity to step in this week and have cleared out my queue of pending legal questions for the moment….
Last fall, I highlighted two lawsuits in Arizona, one that failed for its overbreadth and one that ultimately succeeded. The successful case was brought by the League of Women Voters, and they secured a temporary restraining order as to voter intimidation occurring around drop boxes and other related activity. (The other lawsuit had an appeal to the Ninth Circuit that was ultimately abandoned.)
The League of Women Voters has now announced a settlement in its case:
The parties have now settled the case. In so doing, the League and Ms. Jennings agreed to publicly condemn intimidation of any kind in connection with the exercise of the right to vote. The terms and obligations of the settlement are confidential.